Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Bay as a Middle School Classroom

Annabelle EverettCommunications Intern

EDUCATION THURSDAY

Sixth graders from Bird Middle School in Walpole, MA are nearing the end of a lengthy unit on environmental
science and the problems that their environments face. Students spent six weeks
studying ecosystems and investigating the Neponset River watershed in Walpole.
They discovered various environmental issues that
result from residents’ suburban lifestylesand were then tasked to come up with several solutions. Such a
project attempts to mirror the work that Save The Bay does every day and it culminated
in a week of field trips, including a June 10 visit to the Save The Bay Center in
Providence.

Life in the touch tank

I had the chance to shadow
one of the groups from Bird Middle School for a few hours. They began their day
learning about plankton in one of STB’s classrooms. After a brief rundown of
the species, each student was given a microscope and a water sample containing
some plankton. They filled out a worksheet with their findings before moving on
to one of the touch tanks. The chance to interact with the different creatures
in the tank was met with excitement from the students, who asked numerous
questions while nudging each other to get the best view.

Exploring the rocky shore

The next activity was to
explore the shore behind the Bay Center. Students were given buckets to collect any
rocks, shells, or various creatures that they might find. Within minutes, one
student called out, “I found a live crab!” When asked if they were having
fun, a few of the boys responded with an enthusiastic “Yeah!” Each group
excitedly picked up rocks, scooping up the crabs that they found hidden
underneath.

The students spent half an hour combing the shore before settling down to get a better idea of what sort
of creatures they had just found by looking through a guide to the life in the
Bay. Each was then asked to share one of their findings with the class. One
prominent discovery was the Asian Shore Crab, which the students were taught is an
invasive species that arrives on ships from Japan and has taken over the Bay
waters. Students also discovered other types of crabs on the shore, as well as
quahogs, mussels, and periwinkles.

Bird middle School sixth graders at the Bay Center

This educational program
allows Narragansett Bay to serve as the classroom, gives students a hands-on experience, and exposes them to various problems faced by the
environment. Observing the students, it is clear how excited they are about
this chance to investigate the Bay. One boy, when describing that his favorite
part of the day was getting to explore the shore, remarked that this
was “better than sitting in class.” This type of interactive learning that Save
The Bay provides is essential in getting kids excited about the environment and
educating them on environmental issues.